William h



. @uitrit tetes; @anni Affit'r.

IMPROVBD IBEDSTEAD FSTENING.

WILLIAM n. ELLIOT, or New YORK.

Lettere Patent No. 59,794, dated November 20, 1866. l

SPECIFICATION. T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. ELLIOT, of the city, county, and State ofN ew York, have invented a new and improved Bedst'ead Fastening, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of referencemarked thereon. Similar letters of reference indicate the same devices in all the figures.

To enable others skilled inthe arts to comprehend, make, and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its nature, construction, and operation.

. 'The nature of my invention consists in the employment of certain projections or ribs on the sides of the tenon cut on the end of a bedstead rail, with corresponding grooves or depressions cut -in the sides of the" mortise in the post, for the purpose of fastening the rail and post together, and in so constructing the parts that the tenon can only enter the mortise by a downward movement, and that it can be drawn out of the mortise i only by an'upward movement.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of the side rail of a bedstead and the post, showing the mortise Aand tenon by dotted lines.

Figure 2 isa section of the same atdotted line e, g. 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation of a side rail showing the tenon. Figure 4'is a modification ofthe same invention, showing a series of diagonal ribs raised on the side ofthe tenon, suited to corresponding grooves in the mortise, similar in shape to the threads of a screw.

Figure 5 is also a modification of the same invention, the ribs or enlargements being curved. a, bedstead post; b, side rail; c, enlargement or projection on the end of the tenon; d, thin portion of the tenon; i, ribs on the tenon.

My invention refers to a cheap class of bedsteads which are usually fastened together with iron connections i r in some form, 'and the object of my invention is to do away with the use of iron for fastenings, and so shape I the tenon and mortise that they. can readily be put together and taken apart, and at the 'same timev retain'all the strength and durability of iron fastenings.

The bed posts are usually about three inches square, and the side rail about s ixinches wide at the ends, and one inch inthickness.

There are'rnany modications of my invention, but the one I prefer as the simplest to make, yand the most easily put together and taken apart, is represented by figs. 1, 2, and 3.

This mortise is made by boring a round hole, one inch in diameter, into the post in a diagonal or downward direction, as represented by c, iig. 1, and then by cutting a mortise about one-half inch wide into the hole, as shown at d. -The tenon is then so shaped as to fill the mortise'perfectly. v

It is obvious that this tenori can be got into the mortise only by a downward movement in the direction of the enlargement, e, on the end of the, tenon. The tenon should not'rest upon the lower end of the mortise, but the side rail should be held up by the binding ofthe tenon in the mortise,`so that the greater-the weight placed upon it, the more firmly the tenon and mortise are fastened together. y

i Fig. 4 sliows a series of ribs, similar to the threads of a screw, on the sides of the tenon, which slide in corresponding grooves in the sides of the mortise. These ribs slide into their respective grooves in the same way that the enlarged end of the tenon slides into the round portion of the mortise in g. l.

Fig. 5 shows the same ribs or projections in a curved form. l The mortiseand tenon in'my improved fasteningare so constructed that the tenon enters the mortise cut in the face or side of the post bya direct downward and inward movement at an angle of about twenty-two degrees from perpendicular. By this peculiarity of my invention the projections on the tenon enter the depressions in'the sides of the mortise, while the upper portion of the tenon is yet outside of the mortise. Thus the disadvantage of making so long a mortise that the tcnon may be first enter it to full depth beforethe projections on its sides. can pass into the depressions prepared for them is avoided.

By cutting the bottom of the mortise and Jahe end of the tenon 'at an angle whicl1 corresponds with the angle of the projections on thesides of the tenon and the depressions in the sides ofthe mortise, the tenon passes in'to themortise by amovement which must correspond in direction with the bottom of the mortise and the end of the tenon. The-advantage of thus constructing the mortise and tenon over others that are self-tightening are, lirst, the tenon may -be made to completely fill the mortise; second,the tenen', with the projections on the side of it, may be made across the entire width of the side rail, thereby obtaining a ver'y simple fastening of great strength and durability. l A

The ribs or projections standing outfr'om the sides of the thinner portion of the tenori' form a shoulder which is opposed to the shoulder of the tenon, and when resting in the mortise a weight placed upon the side rail causes the shoulder of the projection to slide downward and inward upon a corresponding shoulder in the bottom of the mortise formed by the depressions in the sides of the mortise, drawing the tenen inward till its shoulder strikes the face of the post. Thus the siderail is supported, resting upon the two shoulders, viz., the shoulder lof the tenon and the shoulder of the projection. The mortise, with its depression, being cut in the post, the shoulder in the bottomof the mortise is of one solid piece with the post, and the tenon, with its projection, being also .ofone solid piece with the `side`rail, neither can be detached without breaking, while at the same time they are 'self-tightening. y a I I do Vnot confine myself to any particular form of ribs or projections on the sides of the tenons; but what I claim, and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. So constructing the mortise cut in the face of the post, and the tenon cut on the end of the side rail,

'that the tenon, with its projections, may pass to its place in the mortiseby a. direct downward and inward movement, substantially as herein set forth.- l

2. Cutting the bottom of the mortise and the end of the tenen atan angle which corresponds with the direction of the movement of the tenon when it passes into the mortise as vherein shown.

3. llxe combination of the several shoulders herein described for supporting theside rail when formed out' of the solid material of 'the bedstead and operating as set forth. A v

. WM. H. ELLIOT.

Witnesses:

Gro. HENRY Bncxwx'rn, B. M. BECKWITH. 

